Zara Phythian was jailed for eight years for the historic sexual abuse of a girl who was aged between 13 and 15 and her husband Victor Marke sentenced to 14 years for jointly abusing the same victim, as well as the indecent assault of a second girl
Marvel actress Zara Phythian has been jailed for eight years for horrific child sex offences.
The Doctor Strange star appeared at Nottingham Crown Court for sentencing on Monday after she was found guilty of the historical sexual abuse of a girl who was aged between 13 and 15.
Phythian’s husband Victor Marke was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment for jointly abusing the same victim, as well as the indecent assault of a second girl.
Passing sentence, Judge Mark Watson told the couple that he believed the start of the sexual abuse of the joint victim had been pre-planned.
The judge told Marke: “I regard you as the driving force behind the abuse. You were clearly aware of the first incident but pretended to be asleep.
“This could only have been a ruse agreed in advance.”
During the sentencing, the judge also said that Phythian’s “deviance” was shaped by the influence that Marke had on her from an early age.
The couple, who got together near Zara’s 20th birthday and later married, both vehemently denied the accusations at their trial, but were jointly convicted on 14 charges of sexual activity when the victim was in her early teens.
The stuntwoman and martial arts champion – who used her married name for the court hearing of Marke – turned 37 last week, the day before the pair were convicted of carrying out multiple sexual acts on the girl, who they told not to tell anyone.
The couple’s depraved sex acts with the child, now an adult, happened before fourth dan black belt Phythian hit the big time.
Nottingham-born and bred Zara Marke, of Taurus Close, Mansfield, was spotted in America when she won four national title belts in the same tournament, before branching off into her film career and achieving worldwide fame with the role of Brunette Zealot in Marvel’s Doctor Strange movie.
